


Life as We Know It

by rlnerdgirl



Series: The one in which... [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, in the slightest, scott and isaac die and stiles and derek are given custody of their child, stiles and derek don't get along, stiles and derek try to take care of a baby, the one in which
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2014-11-27
Packaged: 2018-02-27 06:20:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2682311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rlnerdgirl/pseuds/rlnerdgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one in which, when Scott and Isaac die in a car accident, their opposites-don't-attract best friends, Stiles and Derek get the surprise of a lifetime when they're told that they've just become the legal guardians of six month old Lilly Lahey-McCall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life as We Know It

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the film [Life as We Know It](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055292/?ref_=nv_sr_1).
> 
> Not marked for Character Death because the deaths of Scott and Isaac are established at the beginning and in the summary, and thus not a surprise and not an emotional climax in the story. (If you believe this needs to be changed, please let me know in the comments.)

The one in which, when Scott and Isaac die in a car accident, their opposites-don't-attract best friends, Stiles and Derek get the surprise of a lifetime when they're told that they've just become the legal guardians of six month old Lilly Lahey-McCall. With the exception of little Lilly, children have never been in either of their lives except in a potential distant future. Stiles' always been too busy as the lead homicide detective in Berkley to keep any relationship from falling apart around him. Derek… well, even before he suddenly found himself once again alpha of the city pack, has always been too wrapped up in frigidly dolling out the best coffee in the city and running his café: Roast.

Having a Goddaughter was a whole lot different than having an actual daughter. Just like having a werewolf best friend was a whole lot different than living with one. Of course, Derek has a few choice words about living with Stiles too, but Stiles isn't the one who turns into a wolf once a month to go running around the neighborhood like he's in some weird version of a biker gang.

They manage to suck it up for three months until Stiles comes home after almost seeing the light at the end of the tunnel to find half a dozen betas hanging out in the living room watching  _Teen Wolf_ , of all things, eating popcorn and spilling their guts out to Derek who, Stiles will admit later, looks like he wants to cut his own head off. Right then, however, all Stiles cares about is checking on Lilly, making sure she's fed and clean and happy and that none of the strangers in the Lahey-McCall house, which is now his… and Derek's, have touched, talked to, or stolen her. That, and then passing out.

Unfortunately, the latter's not going to happen with a werewolf party roaring in the living room. It's a miracle Lilly's not screaming her head off.

On cue, a scream crashes through the baby monitor on the coffee table.

Glaring at Derek, Stiles fights through the crowd for the baby monitor before stomping upstairs. It takes thirty minutes to get Lilly changed and settled again, though the furrow of her brow that reminds him a lot of Scott shows she's still not happy—not with strangers still in her house. When she finally gets to sleep the noise from downstairs has settled and Stiles is halfway through packing an overnight back for himself and Lilly when Derek walks in.

"What are you doing?"

Stiles look up from his duffle to stare flatly across the guest room at Derek. He had to take the guest room because heaven forbid an alpha not have the master. Not that Derek had pulled rank, but enough of the betas on the force had shoved their noses far enough into Stiles' new life to make sure Stiles new how home-life dynamics with an alpha better work if he wanted to be able to work comfortably with them. "Leaving. With Lilly," he replies, voice hard enough to warn Derek not to question and, hopefully, low enough that Derek's the  _only_ set of ears to hear.

Derek's jaw clenches and he takes a breath to say something, so Stiles continues over him.

"This isn't working. I don't know what Scott and Isaac were thinking. They knew the disaster that was our one date together and our attempted friendship. Beside that… I though my job took up a lot of time, but, Derek, come on. Between you suddenly being an alpha, and it doesn't matter that you were one ten years ago in Beacon Hills, this is a whole different ball game, and your company that you're more in love with than a person has a right to be with their employment-"

Derek raises an eyebrow at him and Stiles says, "I've cut back my hours. I've talked to my boss. I come home," he hesitates, thinking about early that day. "There's no point in trying to force this to work."

Derek takes a breath, and then exhales in a rush, eyes dropping away from Stiles before slowly dragging back. "I'll leave."

Stiles is the one to raise an eyebrow this time. "You can't. You sold your place, remember? Besides, we can work it out later. I asked for a few days. I'm going to go visit my dad, you can deal with whatever is going on downstairs. We can work out who'll be where when Lilly and I get back."

After a second, Derek nods. "Alright."

Stiles doesn’t come back though, not in the way he intended. He drives Lilly out to Beacon Hills and crashes in his old room at his dad’s house, and after days of hard thinking, playing with Lilly in the safety of his, Scott, and Isaac’s home town, and long conversations with his dad, he thinks this might not be a half bad change. It’s been hard living in the former Lahey-McCall house, even after taking down most of the photos and trying to make it less the house of Scott and Isaac and more his and Derek’s.

Besides, Beacon Hills is safe, it’s still connected to Lilly’s fathers, and getting a job as a deputy here, while a title and pay reduction, will be significantly safer and give him more time to be home.

He returns to Berkley a week later to give Derek the news and move out, except it’s the afternoon before the full moon and Derek’s at a meeting at City Hall having a discussion with Berkley betas about something or other. So Stiles packs up and leaves a note on the fridge.

Lilly’s eleven months and later that night when the moon is full and Stiles takes her into the back to watch it he grins and coos and says, “Ooh! What big teeth you have!” when she giggles and, for the first time, shows pointed canines and pops thick scruffy eyebrows that make him think of Derek for a second before stamping the thought out.

When he turns around to head back inside he nearly jumps out of his own skin at the silhouette framed in the kitchen door and doesn’t settle much when he finally recognizes it’s Derek. “What’re you doing here?” he asks, bouncing Lilly slightly from where she’s perched on his hip, half attentive to her sounds of glee.

Derek steps out of the light of the kitchen and moves toward Stiles. “I could sense…” his eyes flicker to minutely changed Lilly and his lips twitch into a small smile.

“Shouldn’t you be running around with a small percentage of Berkley right now?”

The smile falters and Derek looks back up to Stiles. “No.”

Stiles frowns, confused. “No?”

Derek nods. “I don’t want to be the alpha of Berkley. I though it would be what Isaac would want. Take on after Scott,” he explains.

“Still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” Stiles says, half attempting to distract himself from the fact that Derek’s right in front of him, all up in his space in a way that should be extremely uncomfortable, yet isn’t. Not completely, at least.

“Because this is where I should be. I want…” Derek pauses to take an unsteady breath. “I want to try to make this work.”

With a one-shouldered shrug, Stiles goes to take a step back, grunting in surprise when he can’t. Glancing down he sees an arm wrapped around him, which is strange. He looks up and Derek is close. Extremely close. “What-?”

“It’s been a month and I miss your stupid eighties music, and the way you shout at the TV when you play video games, and the way you snore when you sleep on your back.”

“I don’t snore,” Stiles snorts.

“I miss hearing Lilly breath and laugh and cry. I miss changing her diapers and it irritates me the hamper isn’t always half open with a towel hanging out the side.”

Stiles rolls his eyes. “God, I never knew you were so dramatic,” he breathes, and he’s about to say something else when Derek leans in and presses his mouth to Stiles’, his scruff, that’s turned into a full beard since becoming alpha, scratching against his face. Stiles’ heart thuds rapidly against his ribcage as he presses in to Derek.

Derek, who makes stupid amounts of coffee that always smells amazing and Stiles can’t drink because caffeine messes with his medication. Derek, who has to have all the clothes put perfectly in the hamper. Who _folds_ his clothes before putting them in the hamper. Who eats organic and judges Stiles for his cheeseburgers and pizza.

Derek, who looks happiest when he’s playing with Lilly in the back yard. Who went around the house and child-locked everything that wasn’t already child-locked, as though he knew more than Scott and Isaac had about having a kid. Who bought three more of the same type of baby monitor Lilly already had so he could have them in all the main rooms of the house since Stiles didn’t have werewolf hearing.

Derek, who pulls away smiling a self-satisfactory smile that makes Stiles grin.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://rlnerdgirl.tumblr.com) for quick and easy updates on what I'm writing!


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